Ever Colder
by finem facere mundo
Summary: A group of explorers are sucked from their world into an arctic wasteland. After encountering Devil Hunters, they begin a journey to rescue this world and return home. - M for later Violence - Delay between Ch.s - OC - Ch. 1 is up!


**Author's Note:** This was just some random thought that came to me during a period of writer's block, I'm not sure if it'll ever amount to anything good or not, but stay tuned just in case I decide to continue it. Tell me what you think of it anyway. If I do decide to continue it, I may wait to focus on it after I finish _Visions_, or I may write it in my spare time, enjoy!

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**Ch. 1: **_**A Million Miles Away**_

They trooped across the barren landscape. Jagged hills cut up through the ground which was covered in pebbles making their ability to stand just that much harder. It was freezing cold, that made it even more difficult to move. Not to mention the long, large coats they had to wear in order not to freeze to death.

The leader, Thadeus, stopped. His long, white fur coat was whipping in the wind. A sword was strapped to his belt. He quickly fastened the top of the coat to help trap heat. He adjusted the straps of his large backpack. He shivered and looked back at his group.

Lauren, his second-in-command, was close by. She had a hood pulled up to hide her face from the stinging wind. Behind her was Vince, the teams cartographer. Like Thadeus, he wore a long white coat. Strapped to a belt around the waist of the coat was a satchel. Inside was an assortment of pens, pencils and journals to record the land with.

After him was Anna, the team's doctor. She had on earmuffs and a small, but thick, coat, and thick pants. Her supplies were all in her backpack. The fifth and final member of their team was Dean. He was more of a safety measure. He carried three guns with him. A large, bulky rifle, a powerful pistol, and a meduim sized gun with twice the firepower as the pistol. The last gun was held with one hand.

They stopped behind Thadeus to catch their breath, which wasn't easy given their present conditions. Dean smiled and took in a deep breath.

"Nothin' like a good hike." he said happily.

"You're crazy, Dean." Vince said between breaths.

"No, I just exercise." Dean replied with a laugh. "You shouldn't have come if you knew it would be a little tirein'." he said with a hearty laugh. His face was half-hidden by a thick beard that reached from his sideburns to his chin, and then went up to connect with his mustache. A snowcap was sitting on his head, hiding his salt and pepper hair.

"Dean is right Vince." Thadeus said. "If you thought that you couldn't handle -"

"I . . I can handle it, Thadeus." Vince coughed.

"See to it that you can." Thadeus replied.

"So," Dean moved closer to Anna, "How's our doc doin'?"

Anna eyed the gunner and shrugged, "I've been better." she said. "Nothing I can't handle." she stood up straight and glanced at the cartographer. "It's Vince I'm worried about."

Lauren sighed, "Why is everyone picking on Vince?"

"'Cause he's the only one havin' trouble takin' a breather." Dean said with a guffaw.

Vince breathed in deep through his nostrils, then out through his mouth. His stood up straight and nodded towards Thadeus.

"I think everyone's ready, Thad." Lauren said, using her nickname for her partner. Thadeus nodded and struck off. The rest followed behind him as fast as they could.

The harsh wind was hitting them hard. With only the scarce rocks to divert to flow, they were being hit with most of the force. Thadeus stopped again and motioned for Lauren to join him. She walked up to him and he pointed off into the distance.

"It's somewhere out there." he said. "Let me see the map again." he held out his hand and Lauren pulled a map out of the side pocket of her backpack. Thadeus took it and unrolled it, being careful as not to tear the old paper. He looked it over and then back at where he had pointed. A grin slowly appeared on his face. He nodded and rolled the map back up, then handed it to Lauren.

"Well?" she asked. Thadeus looked at her, his eyes burned with excitement.

"It is much closer than we thought it was." he said. He laughed and took off. Lauren sighed and followed him. The land began to incline slightly, the gravel crunching under their feet would roll when they pressed their feet down on it, adding an even less stable footing.

Thadeus seemed to be heading towards one of the many large rock outcroppings. The ground sloped up even higher, the group had to struggle to reach the rocks. Once they did they used the rock as a ladder, pulling them selves up to the point on the other side that seemed to be their destination.

They were surprised to find that a narrow opening led to inside the outcropping. Thadeus shrugged of his backpack and pushed it through, then he followed. Once inside he called out for them to follow.

It turned out that the ground leveled out once you were inside the rock. The only light came from the opening in the rock. The flat, stone floor was such a relief from the uneven, unstable terrain that they had walked for a few hours.

Thadeus motioned around them, "This cave is the first sign of ancient civilizations other than our own on this world. This is proof that before us, or during our time as tribes, there was another, hidden, race of people.

"No one has ever traveled any farther than where we stand." he went on. "We have been hired and funded to explore the tunnels of this ancient civilization. We have plenty of sparks, so don't worry about it being too dark while we're here. We're going to go ahead and get a head start while we're here."

"What about our bags?" Anna asked. Thadeus scratched his chin and walked a few feet into the dark, then came back.

"Bring them, the tunnel is wide enough, and if we find another area like this we can camp there." he said while throwing his backpack over his shoulders.

"Ah, how I've longed for some real adventure." Dean muttered. "Any trolls down here?" Dean remarked.

"Ha-ha, don't worry Dean. I don't know what's down here, but we brought you just in case. Who knows, you may just bring back the carcass of a new species of animal." Thadeus said. The thought made Dean smile dreamily.

As they walked deeper into the dark, the tunnel widened, and then began to grow brighter. At first, they wondered if it was their eyes adjusting, or if Thadeus had clipped a spark on. But, to their surprise, the walls were starting to glow. The deeper they went, the brighter it became.

The light was a soft blue that seemed to drift like mist from the black rock around them. It was then that they noticed the marking.

"They're like hieroglyphics." Lauren breathed in amazement. "They're beautiful." the markings were expertly drawn. They had been carved perfectly into the stone, amazing pictures and designs had been scrawled perfectly into the rock. Thadeus pulled off a glove and reached out to touch the wall.

"The rock is smooth." he said, bewildered. "I . . I've never seen anything like this before. There's not a chip in the stone. Whoever did these . . they were very intelligent. The designs are so well carved."

"Are we the -"

"First ones?" Thadeus finished for her. Lauren looked him in the eyes and smiled. "Yeah, we are."

"So," Dean said, "this is a good find?"

"Yes!" Vince said. "This is possibly one of the biggest finds in our world's history. Evidence of an extinct ancient culture. Not to mention just how intelligent they appeared to have been."

"If I could find some remains." Anna thought aloud. "It would open up a whole new level of genetics research."

"We're going to be in the history books for this!" Thadeus said. "Come on, lets see what else is down here."

They moved on. Gladly seeing that the carvings only became more and more intricate. They came to a point where the designs themselves began to glow. But not blue, instead, a deep mauve was emanating from the carvings, adding even more color to the already fantastic spectacle.

Finally they reached a large chamber. The floor was covered with intricate carvings even more beautiful than the ones in the tunnel. They all stepped into the chamber and looked around.

What they saw, would never leave them.

Incredible statues had been carved out of the walls and were both high up on the walls and on the ground. The statues were of men in armor. The armor was elegant, regal, and powerful. They brandished huge swords. Capes flowed from their backs and spilled onto the ground.

All of this, was carved straight from the stone. They admired the artistry, their jaws on the floor as they gaped at the splendor of the statues.

A faint glow caught their eyes.

They looked down and saw that a faint, golden glow had appeared in the center of the floor, in the center of the room. The light slowly spilled outwards, like liquid it poured into the other lines on the floor, picking up speed as it went.

The explorers watched the spectacle with a growing fascination, not noticing the statue's eyes glowing red under their helmets. When the golden light reached the ends of the patterns on the floor, the red eyes flashed violently, and the cavern shook. The explorers collapsed, but did not reach the floor.

They kept on falling. Right into a pitch black whirlpool. The dark waves enveloped them, smothering them in icy water that did not soak them, but did indeed drown them.

They gasped for air whenever their heads came out of the water. Above them, the cavern floor closed up and faded to a starry sky. The deadly waves pulled them farther and farther down . . down . .

down . . . .

Until they reached the bottom of the whirling torrent of black, enveloped by the cascading waters until they were far beneath the surface. Then they were back.

Thadeus gasped, drawing air greedily into his lungs. It took him a second to realize that they were lying on their backs on a stone floor, but not the one they had been in.

He propped himself up and took in his new surroundings. They were in a cave. The opening was before them, and outside snow was falling in waves. He looked to his right and saw Anna pounding on Vince's chest.

He coughed and rolled over. Instead of water, a black mist rolled out of his mouth and dissipated. He gasped and looked around him.

He tried to talk, his mouth struggling to form words, but to no avail.

"Where are we?" Lauren asked. Thadeus looked at her. Vince had stopped trying to talk, either from lack of ability or because Lauren had just asked his question.

"I . . I don't know." Thadeus said.

"Well," Dean grumbled from where he was sitting, "then I guess we are in a fix."

"Yep." Thadeus sighed and stood up. He walked to the mouth of the cave and looked out at the cascading snow. "We're in a fix."


End file.
